Is A "Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction" Anthology A Good Idea?
The Bibliophile Stalker has written about what goes into producing a Best Of Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology, and he hits many nails on their heads. I pose this question to PGS blog readers: do you think such an idea is viable? In other words, would you buy such an anthology, and how much would you pay for it? The Stalker has raised a fairly good idea.
Let's say that said anthology contains between 45-55 stories, what the editor(s) would consider the best speculative fiction from, say, 2005 to 2008, for example. Or even 2009. It would cover the stories first published by Pinoys from this time period, and would cover magazines like: The Free Press, The Philippine Graphic, Philippine Genre Stories (natch!), Rogue, Story Philippines, and anthologies like Philippine Speculative Fiction I, II, III, Tales of Fantasy and Enchantment, as well as all the others with speculative fiction in them. It would also cover foreign publications, as well as online ezines, as long as the stories were by authors who are Pinoys or of Pinoy descent.
Just an informal question, mind you. Nothing solid or concrete. Just talking. Just shooting the breeze. Nothing more.
Comment away, please. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say about such a project. I really, really would.
Let's say that said anthology contains between 45-55 stories, what the editor(s) would consider the best speculative fiction from, say, 2005 to 2008, for example. Or even 2009. It would cover the stories first published by Pinoys from this time period, and would cover magazines like: The Free Press, The Philippine Graphic, Philippine Genre Stories (natch!), Rogue, Story Philippines, and anthologies like Philippine Speculative Fiction I, II, III, Tales of Fantasy and Enchantment, as well as all the others with speculative fiction in them. It would also cover foreign publications, as well as online ezines, as long as the stories were by authors who are Pinoys or of Pinoy descent.
Just an informal question, mind you. Nothing solid or concrete. Just talking. Just shooting the breeze. Nothing more.
Comment away, please. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say about such a project. I really, really would.
posted by pgenrestories at 10:59 AM
15 Comments:
I'd be willing to pay up to P1,000.00, more if it's hardcover or a trade paperback. Heck, I paid around P500+ for Gemino Abad's Philippine short fiction anthology because it was required for class.
I'm sorry if this offends anybody, but I would be very opposed to the idea of such a collection at this time. I can list three reasons off the top of my head, without benefit of focused consideration:
1. Scope. At this time, it's pretty difficult to track down every single piece of speculative fiction published in the last year - these works are scattered across magazines, distributed among anthologies, perhaps lurking in self-published efforts. I imagine that it would be even more difficult to track down and read them all (presumably to provide the best list possible). God help us if we miss one, and its fans complain.
The immediate solution here would be to come up with a definite scope - say, we only count items released among a small circle of publications. This would still cut out some potential entries, but it would be a lot easier to manage.
The question of alternatives would also loom large here: Why wouldn't we just hinge on the National Writing awards, or other similar "best of" honors conferred by local publications? All this will have to be hashed out before we even consider putting an anthology together.
2. Authority. Simply put, who gets to judge which stories are worthwhile for inclusion in such an anthology? The editors of existing literary publications would be a no-brainer, but this would also bring up what qualities we look for in a good piece of spec fic. For that matter, how will this intersect with the question of scope? And will the reading audience willingly accept such notions of "the best" as presented to them?
Logistics would also play a part here - I'm pretty certain that the authoritarians won't be able to gather and read all of the spec fic works published over a whole year by themselves. Someone will have to get the entire procedure organized before we even think of putting such an anthology together.
3. Availability. I don't think we're seeing that much in the way of speculative fiction yet. Sure, we get a short story in a magazine here and there, but beyond those items and the few magazines devoted to the genre, I don't think that we're seeing enough venues that will make the anthology a good idea. I think that such a collection would feel more like a bunch of reprints at this time - we need circumstances that would make it more compelling for people to buy it.
I'll have to think about all this for a bit more, but the above items are what's going through my mind at the moment.
Sean: My problem with your first two points is that your argument goes by this string of logic: If we can't get it perfectly, let's not attempt it. For me that's about as flawed as the argument If it ain't broke, don't fix it (in which you end up with a stagnant and non-innovative product).
I think what many people forget is that there is no omniscient (for #1) or objective (for #2) person in the world. Will someone complain? Of course. Heck, even Shakespeare has critics.
As to why we shouldn't just rely on awards by local publications, it's to break new ground, to be pro-active and pioneer the genre.
-Charles
@Sean: Hi, Sean. Thanks for your thoughts. You do bring up some considerable obstacles here, especially with "Scope", or tracking down every bit of spec. fic. available. Well, let's say that the editors are able to get their hands on the anthologies and publications through the publishers (I point out in particular The Free Press and The Graphic; their tel. nos. and offices are public knowledge, so it might not be hard to ask to go through their back issues), would making an open call for readers to send in the published tales that are not so well-known help? They can also send in the name and date of the publication, or a scan or photocopy as proof. I'm not sure self-publishing in blogs should also be considered, but that's open to debate. Once all stories are sent in by a certain period, then that's what will be considered.
As for Authority, you're right too. Who has the right? I guess, no one, and maybe that's why there are several "Best of" anthologies in the US edited by different people. I know of at least 2 "Best American Crime and Mystery Short Fiction" for 1999; I have them both, edited by different people. Some stories are in both, some aren't. Perhaps a head editor (to act as moderator, judge, and all-around but imperfect head referee), with consulting editors, might work. Even allowing readers to send in their comments for their favorite stories, with all their suggestions given honest and due consideration by the editors, would help.
It's imperfect, it's subjective, true. But your strongest argument against this is Availability. I have no strong argument against that, because you're not the only one who has said that "there isn't much in the way of spec. fic. yet." Actually, their words were more like, "there isn't enough". They want a greater body of work before any "Best of" can be considered, and I can respect that. It would be easy to fill up 45-55 stories given the current body of work out there, but it's also true that this is just a drop in the ocean when compared to, say, the number of spec. fic. stories that come out every year in a country like the U.S. But I could also argue that the RP is a smaller country than the US, with fewer writers and readers, so we really have only what we have to work with. But then, that is a weak counter, and your argument of Availability, at least for me, is the strongest against. We just might need a greater body (and I'm sure there will be those who will disagree, and say that it is already enough).
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts. I really want to find out what others think. To all the other readers out there, please comment and let us know what you think. Thank you in advane!
I partly agree with Sir Sean. Give it 5 years before we all make a big compilation. By then, if PSF, PGS, Story Philippines, and Expeditions keep going strong, hopefully there will be enough stories to choose from. By then we can all stand back and see what has happened to spec fic in this country, and show the highlights. Then we can make another one after another 5 years.
But aren't you all glad we're through discussing WHAT is spec fic? ^^v We're now discussing what are the best spec fic out there! Progress, gentlemen, there is progress! v^^v
EK 8 )
By my last count, we have 118 speculative fictions as of today, not counting Story Philippines, Philippine Graphic, and Philippines Free Press. There's probably at least 20 more if you count the stories from those publications. So is 40 out of 140 that bad?
well someone has to have balls the size of Jupiter to edit an anthology like that.
and I think its just too early. but hey, if someone would dare to make one I'd be happy to buy it, just as it wouldn't go over 500 bucks.
and I don't think that there are a lot of stories who deserve to be in a ballsy "best of" antho.
Charles: As I said, my statement was written without any focused consideration. Normally the opinion pops into my head first, and I have to ask myself why that's the case.
I'll back off on my arguments for Scope and Authority at this point -- as you mentioned, they're not particularly compelling reasons, and I myself noted that it's possible to overcome those issues with some preparation.
Availability is still an issue for me, though: You mention that you've been able to find 140 pieces of spec fic so far. But this number isn't within common perception -- as far as I know, our estimates were hovering around 45 to 55 for a couple of weeks. The mention of spec fic gets people thinking "PGS", "PSF", maybe "Fully Booked"... but I don't think that it gets people thinking "Philippine Graphic", "Philippines Free Press", or "Panorama" just yet. I think that we need more venues first, and I think that we need more exposure first. I would prefer that the public recognize a set of Spec Fic Awards as being from an established genre of literature, and not as a low-level event from a bunch of fringe writers. In short: I strongly think that timing is everything here.
@ek: I agree we've progressed. :) It's nice to know that we have a body of work that's out there already. As for five years, do you mean 2005 to 2009 is enough? Or not? Or do you mean five more years from this year, 2008?
@charles: 40 out of 140 is about 28%. Do you think that's a good enough percentage? Or is it too high? Or low? I'm not sure. A part of me thinks it's too high. But then again, we haven't taken into account the Free Press and the Graphic yet.
Mr. Sean Wallace commented on the pgenrestories.multiply.com that he thinks 45-55 stories is too much, and has suggested just about 20, which is the output of PGS, and PSF, for one year.
@don: Based on your comment, may I ask how many stories you think from the current body of Phil. Spec. Fic. work you think could make it to any "Best of" list from 2005 to 2007? If 40 is too high, is 20 all right? Ten even? If the number is low, it might be better to just put up this list of ten on a website (and of course, get the permission from the authors or whoever owns the rights, and pay them for it). This would be cheaper than printing an actual anthology.
However, when the time comes that we can print an anthology, the fact that these stories are online might turn off some buyers (unless the stories are pulled from the web).
@Sean: Hi, Sean. I think, just as in the US, there will always be a divide. There will always be a some people who will think a little less of one type of labeled fiction, or another. And there'll always be some people who will just read story for story, which for me is the better thing. I've thought about it some more, and you still do have a strong argument about whether the body of work is large enough. I asked Charles if he thinks 28% is high, low, or just right. It would certainly be more prestigious for the stories chosen if the percentage is much lower; meaning, the body of work has to either grow, or the number included in the list is smaller. Is 10% a good number for you? 20%?
I agree we need a "best of" compilation of Philippine Speculative Fiction - a manageable 20 to 30 stories would be fine. Price? About P500-P700.
Five years starting from 2007, when things started to get, erm, interesting. ^^v I guess that would make it 2012 when you do the compiling. By then we HOPE to have a new president, and a lot of things would have happened already.
EK 8 )
@ved: thanks for your input, especially the story count and price range!
@ek: hmm...5 years from 2007 is a long time. But we'll see. By that time we'll have maybe 9 year's worth of tales to look back on.
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